Back on the Air
Leica Summicron, M6TTL, HP5, Xtol
Yeah, I know, it’s been quite a while since I posted. I have some real excuses, some lame excuses, but mostly, I’ve been very, very busy. And, just when I thought I’d get everything back together,, I had a bit of a health scare that seems to have turned out all right. If anyone really wants the gory details, they can email me and I’ll fill you in, but for now, what matters is that I intend to start posting regularly again as of today.
What I had truly intended before the health scare was re-launch the site on the day that Leica announced the black & white digital M camera, the Monochrom. Needless to say, because of my passion for black & white photography, if I had the funds, I’d already have placed my pre-order for this amazing camera. I’ve read many different reviews of the beastie, but the best (and the one with the best images) is here. I really suggest you look at those images and read the commentary. Amazing.
So, although I am late, I thought I’d post some of the images I shot when I borrowed Paul’s Leica last year in Akron. At least it’s a symbolic gesture.
Summicron, M6TTL, HP5, Xtol
Welcome back- was hoping to see you writing again! Glad things seem to have been resolved, and best wishes and good health for the future.
Welcome back Chris !
Hope you are feeling better, glad it’s all cleared now.
I bought myself a Fuji X-Pro 1 and am going to order the Lecia-M adapter Fuji just announced today. There is a gentleman at work who has a Lecia M8 and some lenses who has offered to lend me some lenses to play with. Yeah I am jumping at that chance
Hit me up when you are back in my neck of the woods,
Colin
Rick, thanks so much. Things were a little crazy here and it is good to be back! Welcome!
Colin: I know the guy you speak of. I never heard how the M8 was to use? Which lenses are you going to play with? With the arrival of the D800, I held off selling my limited set of Nikon gear to see how it all plays out.
With the Fuji, have you shot much with it yet?
Hope you’re feeling better. We miss you guys; would love to get together over the summer somewhere
I can’t quite remember which ones he has, it was New Years when I got to play with them and there was much champagne to be had by all at the time….
I’ve put a few up on my blog but nothing to write home about, yet.
Larry: give us a call and we can set something up. Miss you too!
Chris! Glad to see you back on the air and with pictures from the Leica, no less.
I’m looking forward to seeing your posts, again.
I am, though, a bit surprised that you like the monochrome Leica, given that you didn’t like the M9 much at all. It is an M9 that doesn’t do color. Any thoughts on that? Why that might make a difference?
Chris, good to see you back posting again. Glad to hear things on the health side turned out alright!
Paul: Yeah, I picked your Leica because of the idea that I was going to post (originally) on the day they announced the new Leica products. I didn’t know about the Monochrom in advance! Anyway, your question is a great one.The M9is a great camera, but rangefinders, for me, are about street shooting. And I believe that the best street images are black & white. For me. And my reaction to the M9 is really that, for a color digital camera that I would use only for shooting in the street, I’d rather have an M6 TTL or my Bessa. I LOVED your M6 TTL, and as I said that day, if you’re ever thinking of selling it, let me know.
Now, thew Monochrom is only b&w, which I find fascinating because of the dual advantage of removing the AA filter AND the Bayer array. I have downloaded many DNG RAW files from the camera, and the difference is astounding. I do believe that it resolves much like a 36mp sensor instead of an 18 mp sensor. I just love the image quality.
Now, if the image quality wasn’t demonstrably better, I wouldn’t care so much. But it is. I’ve printed some of the files, and they are just beautiful.
This is a digital camera that I would use on the street. That is the reason for my interest.Now, if someone was selling their M9 for a reasonable price, I might consider it, but knowing that most images coming out of that camera would have to be converted to b&w, it’s hard to totally justify the cost.
The other thing is I trust Sean Reid. His site is subscription only, but I find it one of the site I read all the time, and whenever her posts something new I always find it enlightening. IT was his write-up that really turned me onto the camera and its possibilities.
Earl, I missed all you guys. Forgive me for being absent. I intend to catch up.
Chris, good to see you blogging again – it was a nice surprise when your post showed up in my blogroll. And of course I am glad to hear that you have overcome your health problems. So I am looking forward to look at your images again. B&W is still on my learning list.
Markus, with your eye for color, which I admire very much, I wouldn’t worry so much about b&w. But if you want to, I have some pieces of advice to help you get started.
Chris, thanks for the laud! My attachment to B&W comes from two directions: Back to the roots of FP4 and HP5 in a Spotmatic or a very tiny Minox 35 is one of them, and the other is that knowledge of emphasizing shapes, that I want to learn. So what I am doing at the moment, being in the family’s preferred holiday destination, the island of Krk, again, is to put a red filter on the lens of my G3. In January I have abandoned my DSLR for weight and repair reasons and switched to m4/3 and three primes, which led me literally into another world of photography. And now B&W is something I really want to learn again, There is a Gary Winogrand quote about curiosity and contempt for the known, which I have at the moment only in German – I take it as a incentive to try something new.
Ok, what is it in german?
Tell me more about what differences you have found with the new camera? Which lenses did you get?
Good to see that you’re back, Chris. I really wondered what became of you, and now when you write that you have been worried about your health, I’m even more happier to read that you seem okay now.
Now, that’s a sweet little M I sooo wish could be mine. One of these days, I will own one, no doubt about it. It will have to wait, though, it won’t be cheaper than the M9.
You have an M8, right? Is it the 8.2 or just the 8? That’s not a bad little camera, you know.
It’s an M8, and I love it.
That’s just an 8, to be specific enough!